Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Terrorism, Religion, And Denialism

By now I am sure you have all heard of the tragic occurrence in Norway and the idiotic response to it. It should be very disturbing to the rest of the world of the coverage that this story is receiving. The media has either brushed over the fact that this guy, Anders Behring Breivik (because all crazy killers have three names), is a professed Christian carrying out a mission from God against Muslims or they have used this horrible act of terrorism (real terrorism, not the American label) to quash all debate on the effect of fundamentalist Islam on the world by draping it in the terms of fascism, racism, and religious bigotry.

The first thing that must be understood about Mr. Breivik is that he is a Christian no matter what Bill O'Reilly says (I will write further about the absolutely idiotic statements made by Mr. O'Reilly). He was motivated by the ideals of supremacy and infallibility that is ever present in not only Christianity but all religion. Religion gave him an outlet for his hatred. The second thing that must be understood about Mr. Breivik is that he is, if evidenced solely by his actions, a sociopath. He has shown no remorse for his actions. On the contrary; killing over 70 people seems to have been the highlight of his life. Couple that with his religious affiliation and motivation and we end up with the worst religiously-motivated killing by one person since Jim Jones and the massacre in Jonestown, Guyana.

There is another aspect of Mr. Breivik that seems to be glossed over in the media and that is his right-wing affiliations. It is understandable that the likes of News Corp would want to down play the right-wing connections of Mr. Breivik. After all, that would paint the right-wing in an unflattering light; as a group of gun-crazed Christian bigots. As it has been shown time and time again News Corp will try to shield the world from those truths about the right-wing. It is barely talked about that the camp that Mr. Breivik went on a rampage at was a summer camp for the socialist party. Socialists are always said to be violent lunatics but it always seems to be the socialists getting attacked by the right-wing.

It is this right-wing fascination with guns that aided in Mr. Breivik's rampage. The 30 round clips that he used were purchased from the United States. The lackluster weapon laws of the United States are as much to blame for this tragedy as the hateful rhetoric by the likes of Pamella Gellar at “Atlas Shrugs” (whose page I refuse to link to) who is just as sociopathic as Mr. Breivik. Hatred and weapons, brought to you by the good ol' US of A.

This denialism by the right-wing that Mr. Breivik was not a Christian and not right-wing is laughable. Even more laughable is the discussion going on by the talking heads at Fox News that even if Mr. Breivik is a Christian then that doesn't mean that all Christians should be painted as craven lunatics. Why didn't they apply the same standards when discussing how “Muslims are out to destroy the world”? That answer is pretty simple actually. That wouldn't fall into the ignorant narrative that is cooked up over at News Corp.

So where does the actions of Mr. Breivik leave us when it comes to discussion the role of multiculturalism in our society? As of now the issue of Islamic encroachment on western societies is a dead subject. It can't be discussed without anyone opposing multiculturalism being labeled as a racist (even though Islam is not a race) and a hate-monger that falls on the spectrum somewhere between Hitler and Pol Pot.

Here is the truth according to the Southern Atheist Gentleman:

-Multiculturalism is as bad as forcibly segregating people by race, creed, class, etc. It leads to ghettos and miniature states being established in different countries. Integration is the only way to move forward peaceably.

-Religion is a catalyst for the insane to become more extreme in their hatred for all things that are different or don't fit into a world-view that is outdated and false. Be it Islam, Christianity, or Wicca, religion brainwashes people into thinking they have the ultimated truth and they will make it to the imaginary castle in the sky while the non-believers fry.

-Right-wing believers are as bad as religionists: motivated by fear and ignorance.

-The gun laws in our country are as outdated as the world-view of religionists.